Ars Mechanica

The experience was such a great one—filled with passion, excitement, risk and adventure—maybe that’s why we all decided to formally create a company.

With over 80 shows in the festival across 16 venues in the city, the SummerWorks Festival which is opening today presents theatre that “encourages risk, questions, and creative exploration while insisting on accessibility, integrity and professionalism.” It offers an experience of theatre that promises to be anything but the “same old”. The last time we talked to Vojin, the artistic director of Ars Mechanica, they were in the middle of developing a new work. Now you’ll have a chance to see their first work as a company, Show and Tell Alexander Bell, remounted at Summer Works to celebrate the recovery of Bell’s voice in a recording released by the Smithsonian Institute.

In this Q&A with Sasha Kovacs who plays the operator, Mary Moore, in the show. We get an insider perspective from one of the company’s founding members, and insight into the creative drive that binds performing artists together in their common pursuits.

I would always rather our show provoke the audience to read many different meanings in what was performed than have them leave the theatre with the feeling that we did it “by the book.”

Still from Ars Mechanica’s production of “Show and Tell Alexander Bell”

Ars Mechanica is an emerging theatre company that incorporates projections, illusion (magic!), and physical movement to create new works that challenge audiences that tend to want to be active observers rather than passive bystanders. Their second show is in development, and highlights will be featured at the Festival of Original Theatre (FOOT2013) happening this weekend at the University of Toronto.

The company’s exciting use of interdisciplinary elements makes for a unique audience experience, continuing the tradition of theatre and the living arts as a way of engaging the audience. I can’t wait to check out their future productions and collaborations; it is long overdue for us to have magic, technology, and theatre on stage at the same time. Read on to the rest of the Q&A and watch some videos of their work!